Friday, October 23, 2015

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is Rob Blackwell!

1. It’s the zombie apocalypse and writers have got to stick together to survive. Pick 3 authors to be on your zombie apocalypse killing team and tell us why you’d choose them.Rob says: Stephen King – He wrote a truly great zombie book called “Cell,” so he knows how to fight the undead.
Neil Gaiman – I’ve never seen a more creative writer. He’ll think up new ways to slice and dice the zombie horde.
Suzanne Collins – Have you read the Hunger Games series? Collins has spent a LOT of time thinking about ways to kill people. She’d be the perfect ally.

2. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first? And now you have to tell us why.Rob says: Stephen King, cause I worship the man. J.K. Rowling gave me 7 amazing books, King has given me 50+. It’s a game of numbers. Sorry, Jo!

3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?Rob says: “Boundary Lines” by Melissa F. Olson and “You” by Karoline Kepnes.

4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?Rob says: “Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien. Such a great epic adventure

5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014? Rob says: “Joyland” by Stephen King. What I loved about it is that it really wasn’t supposed to be scary. Instead, it was a coming of age novel not unlike “The Body,” which was turned into the movie Stand by Me. I thought Joyland was very moving and I had a hard time putting it down.

6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?Rob says: “Bone Clocks” by David Mitchell. The man’s ability to merge genres – historical fiction, urban fantasy, post-apocalyptic sci-fi – into a cohesive narrative is fantastic. I’m in absolute awe of Mitchell’s writing ability.

7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?Rob says: I can summon monsters to do my will (so maybe this makes me a supervillain).

8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?Rob says: I will write anywhere at any time. I wrote my first novel on a Palm Pilot while commuting on the subway. But I will break out the laptop or Kindle anywhere I can get a spare five minutes.

9. We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from one of your books.Rob says: My favorite scene that I’ve ever written was probably in Give the Devil His Due, the third book in my Sanheim Chronicles trilogy. The book has a lot of action, including a war between mythical creatures in the finale. But the best scene for me was a relatively small one in which a major character had to sacrifice himself to help the protagonists. In the scene, he gets to see his life in reverse as if he’s watching a movie. As the movie rewinds to the beginning of his life, the character slowly dies. I like the scene largely because it was a surprise even to me. I knew the character was going to die, but I didn’t know how until I sat down to write it.

10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you? Rob says: Quinn O’Brion, the protagonist from the Sanheim Chronicles. He’s a reporter like me, falls in love with a beautiful woman (who looks a little like my wife) and generally responds to the world in a similar way that I do.

11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.Rob says: I write to music, but it has to be instrumental otherwise lyrics from songs end up in my writing. As a result, I listen to a lot of movie and video game soundtracks or “epic trailer” music by groups like Two Steps from Hell and Audiomachine. Some of my favorites at the moment are: “Victory” and “Flight of the Silverbird” by Two Steps, “Between Heaven and Earth” by Audiomachine, “Bynn the Breaker” by Darren Korb and “Zealous Champion” by Tom Salta.

12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?Rob says: Just do it. Stop thinking about writing and write. Finish what you write, edit what you finish, publish what you edit. Rinse and repeat.

Connect with Rob!

Rob is an award-winning journalist with 15 years' experience and the author of The Sanheim Chronicles and The Soren Chase novels, two series that combine urban fantasy, mystery and suspense.
His first novel, A Soul to Steal, was featured on USA Today and praised by book bloggers and readers alike for its great plot and "fantastic ending." Many of his other books have been Kindle bestsellers in the Dark Fantasy category.
As a journalist, Rob has won several Virginia Press Association awards and was co-winner of the Jesse H. Neal Award for Business Journalism. He has appeared several times on other media outlets, including NPR, BBC, CNBC and C-Span.
You can find out more about him on his Facebook page, at www.facebook.com\asoultosteal or on Twitter at @abwashbureau.
Rob lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.